CHARMED, ALIAS and WEST WING, right here.
PAD
Tru Calling! Dammit! I knew I forgot one! Comments below.
CHARMED—Awwww…Baby’s First Vanquish. I’ll tell you, baby Wyatt’s got some destiny cooking. He has the most potent magic power of all: The power of Plot Device. See Wyatt freak out potential dates for Mommy with the blue glowing eye trick. See Wyatt turn San Francisco into his own personal Jurassic Park. See Wyatt be slated to wield Excalibur and use it to blow a bad guy to Hëll and gone. The only problem with limitless potential is that it’s, well, limitless. When dealing with a world of magic, it helps to have specified limits as to what characters can and cannot do. Otherwise any resolution to a problem is easily pulled out of a hat—“This week, Wyatt solves the problem by making pigs fly. Tune in next week to see him pull monkeys out of his ášš.” They may be reaching a point where they have to bind his powers. Of course, if it turns out they can’t, that could be interesting in and of itself. And hey, you had to love Piper’s reaction upon being told that it is her destiny to rule: “Oh crap.” Wonder if Arthur said that.
ALIAS—I could talk about the way the plot is heating to full boil, with Syd now on the run. I could talk about the dynamics between Lauren (hey, I remembered her name!) and Vaughn, and the exciting way that played out. But c’mon, we all know what the best thing about this week’s episode was: Having an Elektra moment as Syd takes out the bad guys using a pair of sai. Now granted, she was masked, so that might’ve been a stunt woman, but geez…if Jennifer Garner doesn’t have those weapons down by NOW. Still one of the most gripping hours on television.
WEST WING—It seemed as if it was going to be happening just about any minute. The way they were treating Josh, the way that Josh was responding, the way the President was still acting like the walking wounded…I kept waiting for the one moment where everyone looks at one another and says, “Oh my God, we’ve been acting like áššhølëš. Who ARE we and what have we become?” When you’ve got a guy who spends half an episode in a coma telling the President that he’s weak, you know something’s coming. It’s like the writers felt they had to get the hang of the characters by putting them through individual character arcs to get them back to…well, where they were before. Fine. Whatever. They want to give us Clinton v. Gingrich, Round Two? Bring it on. Anything. ANYTHING. Just get these dámņëd characters back to SOMETHING RESEMBLING WHAT WE’VE HAD AN EMOTIONAL INVESTMENT IN. Have Toby argue for the moral highground and everyone realizes he’s right and they should take that road even though it’s the harder. Have the President castrate his opposition through pure force of his intellect. Have Leo remember that every person there had his back when he was being hammered publicly over being an alcoholic, and treat them accordingly. Tell me we’re seeing that next week, rather than some ghastly balancing act wherein every single lead is made to look weak and ineffectual so the producers can lure in conservative viewers by saying, “Look! These liberals thought they had all the answers, but actually they’re clueless and weak! Feel better now?” Because here’s a hint: It’s not going to pull in Conservative viewers, and it’ll just pìšš øff the ones they’ve got. Like me.
TRU CALLING–This may seem undercut by the fact that I completely forgot it, but the series is really starting to grow on me. They’re managing to find interesting variations in what is essentially “Groundhog Day: The TV Show.” The seeming innocent woman wasn’t so innocent (although, frankly, I saw it coming, having seen similar riffs played out on such series as “Hill Street Blues.”) And it even made sense that Tru knew wearing a bullet proof vest would do the job, since she’d seen where the corpse was shot (as opposed to, say, being shot in the head.) The thing is, I have very little hope for the show’s longevity. It’s up against both “Friends” and “Survivor,” it’s science fiction on Fox, which is usually the kiss of death, and I’m no longer seeing *any* advertising for it on FX after giving it some heavy promo play before the series debuted.
PAD
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Re: CHARMED:
Don’t watch the show much at all, really, but it sure sounds like they’re writing themselves into one heck of a Franklin Richards situation…..
Re: WEST WING:
PAD, I’m actually amazed you’ve stuck with it this long. The problems you cite (in sum: everyone acting like an idiot) have been in full evidence since the start of the season. We gave up after the first two episodes, are enjoying the reruns on Bravo, and, honestly, haven’t looked back since. From what we saw, WW now looks like a reasonably well done hour-long network drama–and it used to be much, much more. I feel the same way about it now as I do about any given L&O or ER episode: something to watch for a bit when nothing else is on and I’m folding laundry or paying bills. Certainly not something worth being loyal to, lest they up their game considerably.
To put it another way: I loved YOUNG JUSTICE, but you couldn’t pay me to read TEEN TITANS regularly just because some of the “same” characters and concepts are in it. 🙂
On ALIAS:
* Public Service Announcement *
It has come to my attention that Jack Bauer is no longer the toughest MF on television.
Upon reflection, it is now clear that Jack Bristow is now the toughest MF on television.
Don’t %#^* with Jack Bristow.
* End Public Service Announcement *
All i have to say about Alias is this:
THANK GOD I ONLY HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW NIGHT!
I think if it had been a re-run tomorrow and I had to wait two weeks to find out what happens I’d be in a fetal position.
Jack Bauer will always be the toughest MF on television.
WEST WING: You know, this episode worked for me, overall. I think having Matthew Perry back as Joe Quincy was a great idea, and I’d like to have him in a more frequently recurring role, i.e. Emily Procter as Ainsley Hayes. I guess what I really liked about this episode was that Bartlet actually did something. He stood up to his Republican opponents and said, “Shut the government down.” That was closer to the Bartlet I’ve come to know and appreciate the last four years. Granted, the show still suffers a bit from weaker dialogue and more off the wall character interaction, but I think this episode is probably the best of the season thus far. That’s not saying much, but it’s refreshing. The scene with CJ, the First Lady, and Zoey was very reminiscent of the second and third season, I think. Overall, I think the writers are still grappling with finding the characters’ voices, but at least we got a glimmer of hope that the Bartlet of old is emerging.
ALIAS: What can I really say? I’m glad that JJ Abrams and the writers are speeding the story along. I *LOVED* seeing Sloane and Syd on a mission together. Sloane has to be one of those characters on television that you just love to hate. Jack Bristow displays chilling behavior in protecting his daughter, reminiscent of the first season when he kidnapped Will and shot the CIA mole in the first season’s finale. Now, can we finally get some answers? I know that it’s pretty well established thus far that the Covenant raided Syd’s home, reconstructed evil Francie/Alison Doren, and kidnapped and used Syd as a killer for hire, but why? Who’s in charge? What’s the point?
Spoiler ahead:
Did anyone else see that story on TV Guide.com, that Lena Olin has refused to come back to ALIAS unless she gets close to $100,000 per episode? I mean, that’s what Sharon Stone brought in for her three episode Practice arc. I know she’s an Emmy nominee, but come on, Lena…come back. Syd needs you.
Enjoy your coma, Joseph. Alias is preempted this week for the American Music Awards.
PAD, seriously. I beseech you. One episode of Jake 2.0, that’s all I ask. Want a free DVD? UPN is offering a free DVD of two episodes. Remarkable, isn’t it? Compare that with the way Fox builds audiences for its sci-fi shows–airing the eps out of order, putting them in death slots, preempting them frequently, and then–DELEATED!!(sic)
Come on, try it for a week. It’s not like the West Wing storyline’s going to go anywhere.
Whoa. Free dvd! I’d like to get that (since I do not have UPN right now and have got a chance to see Jake) but I’m not sure about giving all my info to UPN…lol…
Anyway, Alias just keeps getting better and better. Such a great series.
I’d have to disagree about Tru Calling though. I can’t believe PAD nor anybody else metioned the fact that the lady grabbed the gun, without gloves, and killed her ex-husband and then called the police. I really?! Come on. None of you watch CSI? ” Your prints are on the gun.” Umm..ya, but so are yours! Plus hey: powder on her cause she just fired a gun. Man, I call this bad writing. Sorry, but it truly is bad writing. I mean, the police aren’t going to check her story? I don’t know..maybe I watch too much CSI, lol, but her just grabbing the gun and shooting the guy and then trying to pin it on him doesn’t ring Tru (lol). I guess its ‘lucky’ sis was there to save the day..lol..
I don’t know. I want to like the show. I liked the first two episodes, but this one: bleh.
And I don’t watch West Wing (currently) or Charmed, so its off to the other thread!
DF2506
I used to be forced to watched Charmed as my mom watches it every day now on the reruns. It’s ok but too kiddish for my liking.
I don’t watch any of these dramas, not my cup of tea. If I wanna see this kind of show I’ll watch reruns of Buffy or Angel. 🙂
From Critic’s Corner by Robert Bianco, USA Today, November 12:
“…from soapy, simplistic scripts, to the corporate-driven decision to bring “balance” to the show by making the administration look fractured and incompetent.”
All hail the corporate decision!
As the Chief Justice is going to talk to the President, Toby says thank you to Matthew Perry’s character (Joe). Joe fires back with anger “I did it for him!” Why? What did Toby do to Joe to deserve this. A poorly written and acted line. There are more and more of these each week.
Just a few short weeks ago, Peter (at least I remember it as so) wrote that a character must be written the same way each time. The writer can’t just change the personality just to suit the story. But this is what is happening to the WW characters. When they are no longer the same personalities, the suspension of disbelief begins to fade, followed by the viewer becoming dis-interested.
So, does having an omnipotent baby on CHARMED mean they’re not going to revolve whole episodes around t&a? (One’s a nymph! One’s table dancing! All three are superheroes in tight spandex!) If not, they’ve lost their male viewership.
I thought THE WEST WING was okay, but they’ve definitely made the characters more desperate and pragmatic — and it’s not a good role for them. In an earlier season, Toby said “One victory in a year stinks in the life of an administration! But it’s not the ones we lose that bother me, Leo, it’s the ones we don’t suit up for!.” Where’s that spirit been? (In fairness though, Josh’s punishment has been fair. How many massive blunders have been dismissed with a mild verbal rebuke between friends?)
WEST WING:
I’m just happy that, the Presidnet, at least, seems to be getting back into the groove. This getting kicked around has gotten old quick. (Hëll, it seems like it’s been happening for three years, at least!)
Rob
2 quick asides:
1) On CHARMED, when the one character freezes time, is there a small bubble of frozen time, so people on the outside can just look and see folks frozen? Or does the whole universe stop, except for their witches, their allies, and the monsters who can still act because it would be way too powerful otherwise?
2) My fvaorite TV moment was watching the DUCK DODGERS where Daffy became a member of the Green Lantern Corps! His rendition of the oath: “In blackest day or brightest night, er, watermelon and cantaloupe, yadda yadda, superstitious and cowardly lot, with liberty and justice for all!” (And after Kilowog proclaimed the oath proudly, you hear Daffy shout, “Go team!”)
Hey, Pete
Thanks for the info on the Jake 2.0 DVD. I just ordered a copy. I have been curious about the show, but just wish networks would give up on the notion of airing all the shows targetting the same audience at the same time. Not everyone has Tivos, so Angel’s been the victor in this household.
Come on, try it for a week. It’s not like the West Wing storyline’s going to go anywhere.
I watched Jake 2.0 for two weeks already…the first two weeks it was on. While I thought it was okay, and might give it a look again when Angel or WW are in reruns, I just don’t feel like recording three hour-long series at the same time (I have to record all three because I bowl Wednesday nights and so have problems seeing even one of them during air.) It’s just too much TV to have to deal with.
PAD
Come on. None of you watch CSI? ” Your prints are on the gun.” Umm..ya, but so are yours! Plus hey: powder on her cause she just fired a gun.
I did notice that, actually. If they did the proper tests, they’d reveal the powder burns on her hands, not his. However, consider the fact that we don’t know if–in the original scenario–Tru’s brother shot the guy or not. It’s entirely possible that the first time around, he really did shoot him. But all of Tru’s warnings might have taken enough effect so that he refused to do it the second time. In which case, would-be-murderer-wife just grabbed the gun and did it herself, and was quite possibly unaware that she wasn’t going to get away with it, even without those meddling kids to prevent it.
PAD
1) On CHARMED, when the one character freezes time, is there a small bubble of frozen time, so people on the outside can just look and see folks frozen? Or does the whole universe stop, except for their witches, their allies, and the monsters who can still act because it would be way too powerful otherwise?
I’m reasonably sure that when Piper freezes time, it’s localized. Although when you get down to it, I don’t know whether she’s actually freezing the world around her or, in a sense, taking herself and the other witches out of the world into a sort of stasis field.
PAD
I agree with PAD about the best thing about Alias this week; it’s the sais, man! Made me think that’s what Elektra must have been like during her Hand training, since Garner had the ninja mask look goin’ on. Of course, you can’t help but think about the Daredevil movie. But, whereas the cool Elektra moment in Alias was part of an episode that was solidly enjoyable throughout, the cool Elektra moment in Daredevil (for me, Garner training with the sais) was part of a movie that blew chunks. Big chunks.
Yeah, I’m one of those Daredevil comics fans; the Miller stuff rocks. Liked the other Marvel movies, though. And I followed those characters’ comics just as much as DD’s.
<
OH definitly. I agree there.
I just thought it was kind of stupid of the lady to pick up the gun and shoot the guy and the call the cops. Its like lots of luck lady.
But I agree with you..we don’t know if she did it the first time or the brother did it and it was strongly implied that the brother shot the first time.
Still..I guess I’m just being nit-picky here. lol. It just bothered me. Too much CSI I guess..
>But all of Tru’s warnings might have taken enough effect so that he refused to do it the second time. In which case, would-be-murderer-wife just grabbed the gun and did it herself, and was quite possibly unaware that she wasn’t going to get away with it, even without those meddling kids to prevent it. <
True. She was very shocked when the Tru showed up. lol.
I do like the show, but this episode I think just wasn’t as good as the previous ones.
And the brother..well so far he’s a so-so character, imo. I mean he was a bit stupid in the first place to even get invovled with a lady who isn’t even divorced to her husband (of course a case could be made that he didn’t have a clue that she wasn’t divorced…but even so..he stayed with her after he found out..)
Sometimes I like the character and sometimes he just seems like an idiot.
But it should be interesting that he knows now. Hopefully the writers will take advantage of that (unlike the Smallville writers with Pete).
DF2506
Peter:
No comments on anything in Part 1, since I do agree with you about Alias, the only one I watch in this batch.
Meanwhile, since you brought it up, how is your bowling going this season?
Ooops! I missed the addendum on Tru Calling!
I do watch that and hope the series has a longer live than Firefly and John Doe.
Meanwhile why did my last message (and possibly this one?) appear in italics because I didn’t do it?
West Wing: This week was an improvement. The writing staff seems to be finally getting a grip on most of the characters. Josh’s new “optimistic” attitude (“Donna’s in the budget meeting? OUTSTANDING!!”), Leo sending Toby in to upgrade “the Bartlet Legacy” by trying to shape the Supreme Court, and finally–FINALLY–Jed Bartlet awakens from his walking coma and takes charge of his White House! This one shows promise, y’all…(now if they can stifle the urge to keep making Leo the dámņ Grinch of the Century and make use of the nuances the character actually has!)
About Charmed: I really think they should stop putting so many of these stories about babies! Put the show’s focus back on Phoebe, Piper, and Paige where it belongs! Besides, If we are going to be stuck with a “Franklin Richards” situation, we should at least have Alyssa Milano shout “It’s clobbering time!” at least once,
West Wing – One week, CJ is telling the President to come home from the tornado aftermath, then the next week, she is begging the President to go to New Hampshire for his daughter’s interview. Does the right hand know what the left hand is writing?
From what I’ve gathered on Charmed when she freezes time it’s just what she freezes right?
Cause she and the other sisters can move around the objects or people she freezes…
Must–close–italics tag!
PAD–Fair enough re: J20. I’ll stop shilling.
About Charmed: I really think they should stop putting so many of these stories about babies! Put the show’s focus back on Phoebe, Piper, and Paige where it belongs!
Soooo this is probably a bad time to tell you that Holly Marie Combs is pregnant and they’re working the pregnancy into the series. Yes, Wyatt’s getting a little brother or sister…
PAD
Charmed: I think the Franklin Richards comparison isn’t entirely accurate. Really, what we’ve got is a ruthless Machivellian infant, willing to do whatever is necessary to protect the family, using its youthful innocence to protect itself. Clearly, the baby Wyatt is most like is little Maggie Simpson.
Here is the problem with the current West Wing: the focus has changed. Sorkin said again and again the show was a tribute to the ideal of public service, regardless of party. Now it seems to be a race to see who’ll have their “very special breakdown episode” first.
These people used to stand together in the face of a crisis. No matter who had screwed up or how badly, they stood up for one another, encouraged one another, and saw it through. And now it’s just a group of strangers wandering the halls.
Wells has screwed the pooch magnificently. I hope he’s well compensated for it; has anyone noticed that WW isn’t even in the top 20 Nielsens anymore?
JSM
Pete,
I was being sarcastic, actually. Just badly.
JJF
I thought Alias was on ABC?
http://peterdavid.malibulist.com/gmlog/00000610.html#comments
Re: TRU CALLING
I’m the world’s biggest Eliza Dushku fan, but the show just seems silly to me. Not because of the high concept: that’s cool. But rather because of Tru’s utter “failure of imagination” (to steal a line from JOAN OF ARCADIA, the show that you should all be watching) when faced with each new assignment. It’s simple, really:
1) After your first assignment, be ready every day from there on to take notes regarding winning lottery numbers, horse races, and the like. With just a few minutes out of your mission each round, you build up a sizeable operations fund fairly quickly.
2) Once that money’s established, your options get a lot wider. For example: you want to stop your brother from becoming a murderer (or being implicated in one), you let them come to that brunch and then insist on a two day road trip to Vegas, all expenses paid. Or just jet off to Paris or Milan on a whim, claiming a sudden windfall. Remember, your mission is merely to avoid letting a sequence of events unfold the way they did, resulting in someone’s death. You don’t need to solve the mystery, or pull a QUANTUM LEAP-like redress of the situation, you just need to prevent something from happening within a certain timeframe.
3) If the freebie sprees to various exotic locales aren’t enough to keep people out of the sequence, grab a bottle of ether and use it liberally to knock people out for as long as necessary. Better yet, use your money to hire goons to do it for you. 🙂
Yeah, yeah, I know: if Tru were that smart and ruthless, there’d be no show. Well, it’s not like there’s going to be one for much longer anyway….
Tru’s got it easy. That Joan girl, however, yeesh–not a job I’d want.
TRU CALLING (maybe, someday, I’ll get used to that dopey name…) One weak spot: her dumber-than-advertised, mercifully free of the ravages of intelligence brother. I’m hoping someone will meet the family and turn to the lead character and tell her “I can see you inherited the brains in this family.” She simply can’t make a career out of saving her brother from his own stupidity. Gods know I’d have let him sink long since. Darwin would have approved, I’m sure.
>Tru’s utter “failure of imagination”
Too right. And this is exactly what I bemoan in the MATRIX films. An intriguing concept, but the writers had NO imagination beyond that and just let it devolve into a mindless kung-fu punch-up. *yawn*
Jason Wrote: “I thought Alias was on ABC?”
Did you actually bother to read that post and the commentary that followed? Or are you trying to make a joke yourself?
Tru Calling has been growing on me (and I’m glad they’ve left behind the repeated running scenes and overly dramatic closeups they littered the pilot with) but I’m still finding it incredibly predictible. (Though Tru begging the dead fireman to ask her for help at end of the last episode was a nice touch). I realized there was going to be a “here’s proof he was out of town when she made the 911 call” moment the instant that scene happened and I find myself noting all the little details that are going to be important when she relives the day.
They need to mix things up a bit and throw in some extra occurances that don’t directly affect the outcome of the story. Otherwise it’s going to be way too easy for the viewers to figure everything out by the halfway point.
Regarding The West Wing..I’m insulted by the implication (both here and by the network) that Conservatives will be attracted to the show by bad writing. I am very conservative and I loved the first 2 seasons of WW. Writers and editors over at National Review enjoyed watching the show (and said so) even though it was very liberal. I started getting fed up with the show when Sorkin vanished and took with him all of the witty, intelligent dialogue. (A similar thing happened when I was enjoying SportsNight.) And the show isn’t coming off as “more balanced.” I don’t care what the producers or the network say. It’s just BAD!! I love watching the reruns on Bravo. That makes this season’s shortcomings that much more pronounced.
I think the dream sequence in Alias, with Sydney pulling tubing out of her scar, was intended as a tribute to David Cronenberg’s Videodrome. Cronenberg’s scheduled for a guest appearance.
Re: Piper’s freezing power
I believe there is an episode that explains that she slows down the molecules or something, and can also speed them up, which is how she “blows up” things. In a rerun from Season 1 that I saw recently showed Andy frozen in the kitchen, and Morris nearly walking in on them while frozen.